Tanzanite Ocean
by irmaida
Summary: "The concept of never-ending water was unthinkable. It didn't make any sense in a district when all you could see were luxury good factories and shopping malls and jewels and land everywhere." The life Career-raised girl from District One.


_Tanzanite Ocean_

\

Tanzanite had never been the pretty one.

Diamond, her older sister, was the pretty one. She was tall and willowy with huge blue-green eyes and long sunshine-colored hair. The pride and joy of the family. Her parents doted over Diamond, and Diamond never disappointed them.

And she, Tanzanite, two years younger, was just the brown-haired, brown-eyed _other_ child. The embarrassment of the family. While Diamond trained for the Hunger Games and won constant awards and brought glory to the family, Tanzanite would struggle in school, refuse to train for the Hunger Games, and stay inside reading books and doodling.

Diamond's dream, like every good Career-family-raised girl, was to one day win the Hunger Games.

Tanzanite's dream was to see the ocean.

\

Their family lived in District One, near Victor's Village and the Wall. Far, far away from the ocean. So far away that most didn't believe in its existence. The concept of never-ending water was unthinkable. It didn't make any sense in a district when all you could see were luxury good factories and shopping malls and jewels and _land _everywhere.

She had been ten when she'd discovered what _ocean _really was. They had been watching the Victory Tour on television, and the victor was currently in District Four. For just a second, the camera had panned to the ocean before centering back to the victor. And she'd caught a glimpse of it. Never-ending water. It was real.

"I wonder what the ocean looks like in person," she had said. Already, the image was fading from memory, until all she could remember was a smudge of blue.

Her parents had laughed. "Ridiculous, Tanzanite. I imagine that it's ugly and salty and sandy. Thank goodness we don't live in District Four."

"But still," she had said, "isn't there any place we can see the ocean? In District One?"

Her parents had laughed harder. "Impossible! District One is landlocked. Besides, we don't need the ocean. District Four takes care of all the sea products. It is our duty as District One to concentrate on luxury items for the Capitol. We must leave the ocean for District Four, so that they can complete _their_ production duties. If we had an ocean here, it would just be distracting and disallow us to complete our duty to the Capitol."

That was the way her parents thought. Everything was for the Capitol.

Which meant she could never see the ocean.

\

Her parents liked jewels.

That was why they had named her sister Diamond and her Tanzanite.

She had never seen a tanzanite before, but people said that tanzanite was a beautiful jewel that could come in more than one color.

Her mother had showed her a picture once. It had been blue.

She'd wondered if oceans were that color.

\

The Wall was huge.

Thick. Tall. Strong. It lined District One's entire eastern border. It protected District One from danger, they were told. It was so tall that they couldn't see over it even when they were in one of the skyscrapers.

Every child had wondered about what was beyond the wall at one point. It was against the law to try and figure out what was on the other side, they had all tried at one point. When they were younger, they had dared each other to climb the wall and peek over. The Peacekeepers never bothered them about it because they knew the feat was impossible. But the children didn't, and all of them tried.

One of them, little Rudy Phillips, had almost made it. Then he had fallen, broken his neck, and died immediately.

None of them ever tried climbing the Wall again.

\

Diamond was eighteen when she volunteered for the Hunger Games.

Tanzanite was the only one crying.

"Don't worry. I'll come back. And then I'll give you the biggest room in our new house." Diamond had smiled at her, and then leaned forward and whispered, "And when I reach District Four in my victory tour, I'll tell you what the ocean looks like."

That had surprised Tanzanite. Whenever she had mentioned the ocean to her family, Diamond had laughed at her along with her parents.

"I thought that you thought oceans were stupid," she'd said, shocked.

And Diamond had smiled. "Don't tell Mom and Dad, but if you want to see the ocean so bad, I'll see it for you."

Diamond had been like that from the beginning. Too kind.

And when it'd come down to the final two, Diamond versus the fourteen-year-old boy from Four, she hadn't stood a chance.

One trident was all it took.

\

Her sister is dead.

Killed by the boy from District Four. The boy from the ocean.

How ironic.

She briefly wonders if her parents are right; she should just forget about her dream.

\

A week passes.

She sits near the window, watching the fumes from the nearby factory stain the gray-blue sky. She thinks of ocean, and she thinks about Diamond's last promise. And then the images flash in her mind before she can control it. The final battle. The pity in Diamond's eyes as she'd looked upon the fourteen-year-old boy, so much life ahead. And how Tanzanite had known right then and there that Diamond had already surrendered. The boy had shown no mercy. The death had been quick. Speared and dead in less than a minute.

"You ought to volunteer for the Hunger Games, Tanzanite," her dad tells her.

Vaguely, she realizes that someone is talking to her. "Pardon?" she asks, not paying attention.

"Volunteer," her dad repeats impatiently. "For the Hunger Games."

Her head snaps up. "After what happened to Diamond?" she snaps.

Her dad nods. "_Especially _what happened to Diamond," he says, sounding embarrassed.

She can't believe her parents. After their daughter dies, all they can think about is the dishonor she is bringing to the family. They're _embarrassed_.

"You must uphold the family honor," her father says.

She looks at her father, trying not to openly show how disgusted she is. "Fine," she says coolly.

What has she got to live for anyways?

\

She wants to see the ocean before she dies.

She knows she will die in the Hunger Games. If beautiful, perfect Diamond couldn't win, then how could she? But she wants to see the ocean, at least.

It's late at night, the night before the Reaping. Where she will volunteer for the Hunger Games. Where she will seal her fate.

The night sky glows with fumes coming from the factories and all the lights from the never-closing shopping malls. She knows District One isn't very safe at night, but tonight she does not care. She stumbles around the district in the semi-dark, not knowing where she is headed for. But for some reason, she is not surprised when she finds herself in front of the Wall.

She wants to climb it. And see what is over it.

The beginning part of the climb is easy enough, with footholds and a somewhat-path created by the generations of children who have tried to climb the Wall. Then she reaches the area where most children give up. And as she gets higher and higher, the path disappears. The climb is getting dangerous, and she knows that the possibility of falling and breaking her neck is very high now. But she keeps climbing. She is destined to die anyways.

She doesn't know how long she's been climbing when she sees the end of the wall. She is very close. Using her last few ounces of strength, she pulls herself over the edge. And, being careful not to look down, she swings her legs over the wall and sits on it, her body facing the unknown side of the wall. She can't see much, just never-ending water.

_Wait, what?_

Never-ending water.

The ocean.

It's impossible. District One is landlocked. They are a million, trillion miles away from the ocean. All of the districts are, except for District Four. That had been what the Capitol had told them.

She blinks. Maybe the darkness, mixed with her fatigue, is causing her eyes to play tricks on her. Then the sun begins to rise, and it's undeniable.

It is never-ending water. It's beautiful. Waves and sand and so very many shades of blue. Her District-One-geared mind automatically thinks of sapphires. And blue tanzanite. A tanzanite ocean, she thinks. The rising sun reflects off the ocean, turning the sapphires and tanzanite into gold and garnets and topazes_._ It's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. And it's so natural. Not artificial, like everything else in District One. She's really seeing the ocean. Really seeing the ocean. And she stares, spellbound.

Out of nowhere, a thought hits her.

_The Capitol lied to them_.

The thought just comes out of the blue, but she realizes that it's true. They did. Lie about everything.

Now she knows why the Wall is there. Not to protect District One. To protect the Capitol. Because if they knew about the ocean, then they would stop making luxury goods. Or at least make less luxury goods. The ocean is for District Four, and District Four only. Each of the districts must have a specific duty to be more efficient, and more dependent on the Capitol for everything else they need. The Wall is just another way for the Capitol to protect its power.

The bullet whizzes by her ear.

She turns around for a second, and her eyes widen as she sees a Peacekeeper shooting a high-powered rifle as her. A second bullet whizzes by her other ear.

_They Capitol must protect their secret._

The third bullet hits its mark.

It's not awfully powerful, but it lodges itself in its back and gives her just the push she needs for her to tumble off the wall.

She's dead in less than a minute.

* * *

A/N: Basically, it never made any sense to me that of all thirteen districts, plus the Capitol, District Four was the only one with an ocean near it. North America is big, and it's got a pretty big coast as well. Not to mention lakes and rivers.

So I wrote this.

Hopefully it made sense.

R&R, please?


End file.
